Surprise Baby Shower!!

Monday, the girls at work surprised me with a baby shower and lunch! It was such a surprise and so much fun! I am so blessed to work with such great people who care about me, the baby and Andy. We also got some pretty great gifts. :)

The past few days I have spent organizing the g-man's room and just getting things ready (I know I'm a bit early, but just can't help myself!) I will have to post more pictures soon.

Tonight, we had the opportunity of meeting with our friends Nate and Emily (the couple who are also pregnant with a boy who has SB). It was so nice to be able to talk with people who truly understand our situation. They have become great friends and God certainly answered our prayers by putting them in our lives.

In Gibblet news: he has been moving, kicking and hiccuping away! All is well there!

We hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving! Love, Andy and Leigh

Ultrasound and visit to the NICU

This morning Leigh and I had an ultrasound to check up on the Gibblet. It had been a month since the last one so we were anxious to see how he was developing. It was great to see the little guy again, this time he had the hiccups for a short time and we could clearly see him sticking his tongue out at us!!! They examined the head to determine if the size of the ventricles had changed. They did slightly get bigger. We were somewhat discouraged by this, but then were reminded that this is normal for a baby with spina bifida. In fact 80-90% of babies born with spina bifida have hydrocephulus and require a shunt to drain the excess fluid around the brain.

Basically we wanted the doctor to come in and say "well kids, looks like everything is ship-shape, no spina bifida today!" :)

As far as growth development he's right in the middle of the charts, which is great! His feet still appear to be straight and theres movement in his legs. The hole in his spine is fairly large. (we knew this already) but it was just hard to hear it again.

We were praying to go into this ultrasound and hear that nothing had changed. Unfortunately it did, but this is out of our hands and we continue to give it to God and pray for peace.

Shortly after the ultrasound, we were able to meet a neonatal doctor and tour the NICU at spectrum hospital. This actually made us feel much better. The doctor, nurses, and staff were so nice and encouraging and it was nice to see where our little guy would be staying after his surgery. It looks as if he will be there for a minimum of 2 weeks, possibly longer. For the first week after his back closure he will need to be on his stomach and we won't be able to hold him. This was, by far, the hardest thing to swallow. Lately we have been having far more good days than bad, however today was one of those hard days. Please continue to keep the three of us in your prayers.

Love,
Andy and Leigh (plus one) :)

26 weeks

Here we are at 26 weeks!

No appointments the last couple of weeks, but we thought we'd post to say we are doing well. We'll keep you updated as things come up.

love

Andy and Leigh :)

When it rains...it POURS!!!

How do I even begin this? Monday afternoon I got a call from Andy while at work saying that our house was broken into and that we had been robbed! WHAT??!?!?!?! Not possible, I thought. I was wrong. At around 3 in the afternoon 2-3 people broke in through our side door and took 2 tvs, 2 computer monitors, both of our cameras (lenses, batteries, memory cards, and everything else that goes along with them). UGH!! Luckily, they left our computer so all of our pictures and other stuff that was on there (i'm not really sure, andy does all of that:)) is safe. Our neighbors saw them taking stuff from the house and got their license plate number and called the police. They've located the car and house, but our stuff is gone. It certainly isn't the best feeling knowing that someone has been in your house, but we just remind ourselves that no one was home and that no one was hurt. Andy's dad is helping us out with a new (safer) door, and we're just in the process of filing all of the insurance stuff. Luckily we had some reciepts for our cameras and the monitors so thats good. I just wanted to update you all on our situation and ask that you add another Gibbs family prayer request to the list. :)

No Gibblet news to report, I have an appointment today, but no ultrasound. Just a quick check-up and the glucose test. He is still kicking, moving and growing away!!

our promised pics...

Well, there you have it...the begining stages of g-man's room. Sorry it took so long to post those!

Now...an update on our appt. Tues. IT WENT GREAT!! No real news to report, he is doing fantastic. He now weighs approx. 1 lb 4 oz. His little feet are still straight and he was moving and kicking all over the place! The ultrasound tech had the 3-D ultrasound on for awhile and we even saw him trying to suck his thumb! I know that being his mom, I'm probably a little biased, but I'm pretty sure that he is the cutest baby ever...by far. :) We can't tell you enough how much it means to us knowing that there are so many of you our there praying for us and our family, your prayers are felt each day and we feel so blessed! Andy wants you all to know that he has started growing out the beard...again. ugh! :)

Jim and Emily's Wedding

Andy here:

This weekend I had the honor of cleaning up (ie shaving) yikes look at that thing!!! and standing in Jim and Emily's (my sister) wedding. What a great time! Interestingly enough, a number of those attending commented to both Leigh and I about this blog and how they check it frequently. Thanks!!! we appreciate the thoughts. It was great to sit and chat with family members we have'nt seen in a while, thanks for all your encouraging words, it means so much.

In other Gibblet related news...Leigh has her monthly appointment tuesday morning at 8 AM. Please pray that the G-man is growing properly and no other issue creep up.

leigh here: just to let you all know it was NOT my idea to post this picture!!! don't worry, he never left the house with that thing! :)

Getting the G-Mans room ready

This past weekend we had some time to role up our sleeves and start on the little guy's room.
Painting is something I'm horrible at, I cant just stay in one spot, i have to move all over the room and start in this corner and then move to this wall, its really bad. So thats why I;ve been transfered to the taping crew. For some reason I'm great at this, and actually dont mind it. So thats how it worked, i taped, leigh, her sister and mom threw down the paint and it's looking pretty good. Mallory, our niece, acted as supervisor :)

Coming SOON... more pics of a more "finished" room.

No appointments this week, its been kinda nice. We have one next week tuesday and will keep you all posted on how things go.